Day 25, the family was gathered and enjoying their time together. The Scamander house was filled with joy, especially after the gifts had been exchanged, not to mention the more magical ones delivered the night before.
The day passed by peacefully yet lively, both at the Scamander house and the Evans house. Christmas was a joyful time for many, and that excitement was contagious, especially if the [Merchant] had new products. There were several curious objects that would be purchased if there were enough funds available.
...
It was dusk once again, and I was talking with the adults in the Scamander house. After witnessing some of my abilities, curiosity about me had grown even stronger.
"So, you're not a wizard?" Jacob Kowalski asked.
"No, I'm something different," I responded, a little tired of that question.
"But can you do magic?" (Jacob)
"Yes, but it's a different kind of magic..." (Red)
As the conversation continued, from my position, I could see the girls of the house, Newt and Tina's granddaughters, dragging Elise towards the rooms. Sensing Elise's plea for help, I looked at her but only smiled and waved. I didn't know what the girls were planning, but when I asked them, they said it was something exclusive to girls and that I shouldn't interfere.
After a while, dinner was being prepared, and I found myself leaning against a wall, observing the room filled with joyful people sharing their time together. I was sipping on a glass of juice, wondering what was happening with my partner. Through our bond, I had felt both the initial nervousness and the subsequent excitement, and now I was feeling nervousness again.
My answer came soon enough as the girls emerged from the hallway, encouraging Elise to reveal herself to me. When the unicorn appeared from behind the wall, everyone in the room froze at the striking image.
"Hello, how do I look... handsome?" Lys approached me and recited a monologue that clearly wasn't hers. But what left us all in awe was that she had heavy makeup and some accessories, like earrings in her ears.
"Puhj..." I struggled to contain my laughter. The image of Elise with that makeup was something I never expected to see, but my reaction wasn't well-received by the others. The girls who must have done that to Elise glared at me in anger, while the victim herself seemed like she was about to cry.
"I knew it, I look horrible...!" With a teary voice, she was about to turn around and run to her room or to the backyard, somewhere where her horrible appearance couldn't be seen. But her head was forcefully held and turned to look into my eyes.
"Silly girl," I held her face and gazed into her teary eyes as I kissed her nose. "You can look however you want. Even if I laugh or feel uncomfortable at first, as long as I remember that it's you, I can't help but think you're the most beautiful unicorn of all, regardless of your appearance."
"Really? Even if I look like those spiders or that holey mushroom that bothers you?" she asked, sobbing.
"If it's you, it will be beautiful," I affirmed as I embraced her.
Elise stopped feeling down and enjoyed my caresses, while the others present watched us with amusement, thinking it was an adorable scene, unaware that we were a couple.
After having our moment, I asked Lys what was going on with her appearance, and she told me that the girls said they were going to make her beautiful for me. Looking at them, the girls seemed embarrassed and resentful that I didn't approve of their work.
We discussed for a while about not using Elise for their experiments, but I also had to acknowledge that I was wrong not to appreciate Elise's effort to look attractive for me. Additionally, some women also complimented Elise on her appearance, although we all knew that human-style makeup was not suitable for an equine.
After that event, dinner arrived, and we ate without anything else significant happening. Once we finished, we dispersed throughout the house once again.
...
"Do you really have no problem with the makeup?" Queenie asked Elise, who was beside her.
"Not much, what bothers me the most are these things in my ears, but I'll leave them on until he takes them off" (Lys).
"If you don't like them, why did you let them put them on? Although they can be insistent, I'm sure they wouldn't do anything you didn't want" (Queenie).
"But they told me Red might like it" (Lys).
"You care a lot, don't you?" (Queenie).
"More than anything" (Lys).
Both women continued talking as they watched the others at the party. Queenie and Elise looked at the children in the room, except for me, who were having fun with their presents.
"It's nice to see them happy, too bad I couldn't bring my grandchildren," she said, contemplating the children. "It brightens my day to see them like this."
"Yes, they're pleasant... I didn't really know what human children were like, beyond what Red taught me, but they're not so bad," she said thoughtfully, unaware that the woman beside her had quickly fixed her gaze on her, with an expression of absolute astonishment.
"You want to have children with Red?!" exclaimed Queenie, surprised and concerned.
Everyone in the house could hear it and turned to see where that sound was coming from, and thus they could see the witch looking at the unicorn, connecting what they saw with what they heard, also widening their eyes in surprise.
"What? No, I didn't, I didn't say that, right?" Elise became very nervous to the point where her trembling was noticeable.
"Can they have children?" one of the children asked their sister.
"I don't know, maybe," she replied.
"What are you saying, honey?" Jacob asked his wife.
"I heard Elise's thoughts and..." she replied, taking a breath after that dazzling revelation.
"You can read Elise's thoughts? Is that possible?" I asked.
"Unlike yours, yes," she replied, letting me understand her initial expression upon seeing me.
"Wait a minute, are we overlooking the fact that the unicorn wants to have offspring with the boy?" Griffin questioned.
"Griffin!" Tina reprimanded him.
"It wouldn't be strange, they're already a couple, it's normal to want to have children," commented one of the less clever girls.
"THEY'RE A COUPLE?!"
And so a heated argument began in the house, with everyone speaking loudly, arguing about a topic that didn't concern them, while on the other hand, Elise grew more restless.
"I don't want to have children with Red... I do love Red... but... Stop looking at me... I just think children are cute... I didn't say anything... if I could... everyone, be quiet... I can't... because I'm like this... it's wrong... but I want to..." she unintentionally shouted, with several interferences in her words.
Lys was having a panic attack, I knew it well because I was sure that the things she was saying, she was actually thinking them, but she couldn't control what was projected through the collar in her current mental state.
"That's enough of this," I said as I ran towards my partner and hugged her. "Calm down, everything is okay."
"She's lying, I'm not... don't be angry with me... I don't want to..." she said, unaware that she was shouting at me and tears were streaming down her eyes.
"Shhh... I don't care if it's what you want or not, I love you and I will love you all the same. This is the sign for us to leave and go back home," I said as I mounted her and hugged her neck to continue comforting her.
While the adults argued, we began to make our way towards the exit to escape from that house and run in the yard.
"Red, Elise!" Tina's voice could be heard, drawing everyone's attention to us once again.
"Thank you for inviting us, but it's time for us to go back to our home. Happy holidays," I tried to bid farewell.
"Wait, don't leave. They can be nosy, but they'll apologize," she said, giving a deadly look to everyone in the room. "It was just a brief misunderstanding."
"But Mom, we're talking about..." Elian was about to remind her that we were talking about a relationship and procreation between a minor and a beast.
"You shut up!" (Tina)
"It's alright, Tina, it was about time for us to go. You know our relationship is unusual, but we don't let others' opinions bother us," said Red.
"It's not unusual, it's beautiful," said one of the girls in the house.
"Felicia, don't get involved," her mother scolded her, reigniting the argument once again.
"I'm sorry about this, kids. See you later," Newt apologized, saying goodbye.
"You shut up too, Newt. No one has to leave," Tina snapped.
"It's better if we do. We miss our home. We'll leave it up to you to explain to the others about us, if you want, but we truly don't care," I said, signaling Elise to move forward.
"Wait," she stopped us again. "Just... stay a little longer, for me. It doesn't matter if these idiots don't understand you."
"Mama!" her children complained.
"You, be quiet. Turns out when I invite someone into my home, you start questioning their marital life," Tina made it clear to her children with her tone and gaze.
"Mama, she's a unicorn and..." (Elian)
"A unicorn I know very well, and who has my approval and respect..." (Tina)
"So, you would allow them...?" (Aurora)
"Don't twist my words. Both are young..." (Tina)
"And what if they weren't?" (Griffin)
"Let's leave that topic aside for now. Age is not the important matter here, but the behavior you all are displaying," (Tina)
"How old are you in unicorn years?" I asked my companion curiously, ignoring the rest of the conversation.
"I'm old enough to give birth to a baby," she replied, as unicorns didn't have a very complex age system.
"Let's set the age topic aside," Tina stopped us once again, as the subject of our relationship had some leeway with her, but limited. "Look, I don't want you to leave, not now. Let's forget about this topic. This is my house, and no one is going to question yours. Please, trust me."
"What do you think?" I asked Elise, whispering to her.
"I want to go home, but it seems like Tina really wants us to stay... I'm not sure," Lys replied.
"It's your decision, my love," Red said.
"..." Elise hesitated, but upon seeing the pleading look from the elderly woman, she made up her mind. "We can stay for a while, but I don't want to see anyone. Everyone is giving me strange looks."
"Alright," I responded, stroking her ear and then looking at Tina. "Well, we'll stay a little longer, but then we'll go rest in our room."
Tina nodded with satisfaction as Elise and I made our way to the room, crouching down to avoid hitting the door frames now that I was mounted on her.
Now the living room was empty without us, and Tina cast a stern gaze at her children, who would soon hear her reprimands. Newt was standing beside the children, embarrassed and laughing at what had transpired, thinking that this was one of the most peculiar Christmases of his life.
...
Inside the room, we were lying on a large, thick, and fluffy carpet on the floor.
"Do you really want to have children? Have you changed your mind about it?" I asked as I removed the accessories from her head.
"It was just an idea... I'm still not sure about that. I still think I don't want my children to experience what I went through, but I saw how happy this family was with children and the joy they can bring. I don't know what to think..." Lys replied.
"Think what you believe is right, I'll wait for your answer. As I told you before, what I love most about you is your purest essence. I will love you in all your forms, but what I enjoy most about you is your true self, just as you are," Red reassured her.
We chatted for a while as we caressed each other. Although the previous moment could have been complicated, I explained to Elise that things like this can happen during these festivities and that they will be the most memorable moments in the future, so she should take it with humor.
*Knock, knock, knock*
A knock on the door was heard, and then the children entered to talk to us, expressing that they were on our side and giving us their blessings or something of the sort. I didn't pay much attention until the question came:
"If you had babies together, would they be red unicorns?"
The question intrigued even me, but I tried not to reveal too much about our private life. After they left, I discussed it with Elise until the next visitor arrived.
Queenie entered to apologize for starting all of this and inadvertently getting into Elise's mind. Lys forgave her, and everything was fine between us. Queenie also talked a bit about our relationship, and although it was strange for her, she firmly believed that two people don't need to be the same to love each other, mentioning her own story with her Muggle husband.
Finally, no one else visited us, and we were able to rest, enjoying each other's warmth on this comfortable carpet.